Joseph Sassoon's Blog

Brand Stories that Make You Click

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Posted by Joseph Sassoon on February 11, 2018

The most enduring ad ever

The seamless launch of the Falcon Heavy by Elon Musk’s SpaceX initiative last week is an impressive success: the rocket is incredibly big and powerful, and its technical advancement is such that NASA is now interested in purchasing some of its next flights.

That’s an extraordinary accomplishment. But what really struck me is the branding and advertising feat attached to it. As is widely known, the Falcon Heavy brought to space Elon’s Musk personal Tesla Roadster, and the car is possibly bound to remain fully exposed in orbit for… a billion years.

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Posted by Joseph Sassoon on January 8, 2018

La brand story più interessante del 2017

Nell’anno che si è appena concluso molte aziende hanno saputo creare storie di marca attraenti e di valore. Ma quella che per me è risultata la più interessante è Breaking2 di Nike. Lo stimolo narrativo è partito col trailer: Rompere la barriera di 2 ore nella maratona è impossibile. Tutti lo sanno. Lo sa la storia. Lo sa la scienza. Lo sa chiunque abbia un po di buon senso. È una follia. Nessuno può correre così veloce per tutto quel tempo. Quindi, ci proviamo noi.

Come? Tre maratoneti tra i più forti del mondo, tutti provenienti dai paesi dell’Africa orientale in cui correre è assieme normalità e leggenda. Un obiettivo considerato oltre i limiti delle capacità umane. Un gruppo unico di tecnici di Nike, medici dello sport, scienziati, ingegneri, fisiologi. Una nuova scarpa Nike realizzata per questo specifico evento (anche se poi disponibile a tutti gli atleti). Un investimento di milioni di dollari. Una partnership con National Geographic per registrare la cronaca di questa eccezionale impresa.

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Posted by Joseph Sassoon on December 19, 2017

Il libro Web Storytelling viene ripubblicato

Per cortese decisione dell’editore Franco Angeli, a distanza di sei anni dalla sua prima uscita il mio libro Web Storytelling viene ripubblicato. Ieri ho consegnato il testo aggiornato, e il nuovo libro uscirà con lo stesso titolo in Aprile 2018.

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Posted by Joseph Sassoon on October 22, 2017

The Values of Nike

The commercial that Nike launched for the new NBA season a few days ago sums up the values at the core of the brand. The ad opens on a young kid named Dante Grand holding a basketball as he stares at a neighbourhood basketball match. Then he starts dreaming about his future, and we follow him in the ups and downs of his career as a young basketball player. The film is 2 minutes long but it seems to go very fast, and that’s proof that Nike has a deep understanding of how to build a good story.

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Posted by Joseph Sassoon on May 14, 2017

Domino’s and IoT: Reinventing the Pizza Story

As something coming from an oven and deeply rooted in tradition, pizza may seem a low-tech type of food. Indeed, if you just think of what you eat – that delicious, universally loved combination of dough, tomato and cheese – it is.  But that’s not keeping Domino’s from taking a very advanced technological approach to all the surroundings. By doing so, the company is radically changing the pizza experience and its story.

In the last few months, Domino’s has announced a series of initiatives that are going to make the notion of eating pizza very different. In March the company’s CEO Ray Pasquale told Channele2e that Domino’s franchises are using Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to reduce food waste and increase health code standards. In April the company’s European branch presented Domino’s Robotic Unit, a futuristic robot with wheels that will ensure timely delivery of pizza within a 1mile radius around the franchises. The company is also testing the use of drones in New Zealand. (see articles by Ty Trumbull, Channele2e and Jennifer Faull, The Drum News).

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